Report: North Korean woman eating looks familiar to South Koreans

SEOUL, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- North Korea recently has taken greater liberties to woo foreign tourists, permitting a tour operator to fly visitors on a Russian helicopter.

Even more interesting, however, is a video that has surfaced on the South Korea Internet, showing a young North Korean woman guide dining in North Korean restaurants, open to tourists.

South Korean media has suggested the woman, who remains unidentified, is mimicking the gestures of South Korean social media stars, who have shot to fame with their video blogs known as "mokbang," or "eating broadcast," South Korean television network KBS reported.

The video footage, taken by Singaporean filmmaker Aram Pan, shows the stylishly dressed woman introducing each dish then eating the food with the gusto that could trigger the appetite of watchers.

In South Korea, "mokbang" videos encourage people who dine alone at home to eat along with the social media personality they are watching, The Washington Post reported in October.

The recently published video, taken inside a restaurant in Pyongyang that serves Western cuisine, showed the guide ordering food then rolling spaghetti noodles around a fork, then popping it into her mouth. She then narrates on her food experience, bursting with pride about the taste of the pasta.

"It's really delicious. It's my first time, trying out this kind of spaghetti," the guide says in English.

She then tries what she calls a "North Korean pizza," which comes with a kimchi topping, and also samples pancakes, hamburgers and other dishes across 12 lavish restaurants in Pyongyang. The guide's apparent familiarity with her style of video presentation was evocative of South Korean food videos, according to KBS.

Pan, however, told UPI the video is not an imitation of South Korean videos, and that her English is good because she has interacted with hundreds of tourists.

The video's content comes at a time when sources say North Korea's authorities are losing their grip on information flows. Defectors have said it is not uncommon for North Koreans to secretly watch pirated South Korean television shows or listen to radio broadcasts.

During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in October, U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues Robert King said media flows into North Korea are helping to convey information about the outside world to North Koreans.

According to King, 29 percent of North Koreans listen to foreign radio broadcasts, and broadcasts from Voice of America and Radio Free Asia have played an extremely important role in breaking down information barriers.

Correction: An earlier version of this article did not identify the Singaporean filmmaker who made videos during his travel to North Korea. His name is Aram Pan.